The invention relates generally to electrostatic spray systems, and more particularly, to the control and monitoring of a plurality of electrostatic spray gun operating parameters from a centralized control panel.
Electrostatic spray systems apply powder paints and coatings to a variety of products including, for example, appliances, automotive components, metal office furniture/storage shelving, electrical transformers, and recreational equipment. A critical component of such spray systems is a spray gun and a spray gun controller. The spray gun and the spray gun controller are responsible for generating a corona-charging effect that is the basis of electrostatic spray systems.
In corona-charging systems, an electric field is created between a spray gun and a part to be painted by applying a high (usually negative) voltage potential to a pointed electrode located on the tip of the spray gun. Powder is sprayed through the area of the electric field. Passing through this area, the powder particles are charged and are drawn to the usually grounded part to be painted. In this manner, the part to be painted is coated with powder paint.
Electrostatic spray systems often include a plurality of electrostatic spray guns. The control and operation of a plurality of electrostatic spray guns can become complex for the operator on the production floor. Normally each electrostatic spray gun has its own controller. The controller is normally a box containing electrical components. The face of the box is typically the control panel for the gun. The control panel generally includes controls such as knobs, switches and buttons for setting the operating parameters for the power supply for the spray gun, and the pump which supplies powder to the spray gun. In addition, typically a display is provided as part of the control panel adjacent to the controls to display the various settings for the gun and parameters of gun operation. In systems having twenty spray guns, for example, a rack of twenty such controller boxes must be provided close to the spray booth. These control boxes would be stacked in, for example, two adjacent stacks of ten boxes. The operator who is running this powder coating system has therefore been required to individually adjust the operating parameters for each of the spray guns at the control panel for that gun. This has required him to reach above eye level to adjust the control panels at the top of the stack, and bend over, or squat low to the floor, to reach the control panels close to floor level. Consequently, he must do a fairly repetitive operation at each control panel while moving up and down the stacks from control panel to control panel, sometimes in positions which are uncomfortable and potentially prone to promote operator error. Moreover, when viewing the displays for the guns, the operator must look at the twenty different displays spaced side by side from close to floor level to approximate six feet above floor level. This is to large and confusing an area to effectively view all at once for an operator who is trying to compare the operation of the guns in the system from one gun to the next.
Therefore, it is highly desirable to provide a system and method for conveniently controlling, setting and monitoring a plurality of electrostatic spray gun operating parameters in a powder coating system from a single location.
To improve upon these prior art powder spray gun control systems, one aspect of the present invention is to permit the monitoring control of many of the gun control functions on a single master control panel which could be used for all the guns in the system. More specifically, the invention permits all the parameters associated with the gun""s electrostatics to be monitored and controlled using a single master control panel. That leaves only the pneumatic functions to be performed by the individual control panel for each gun. This in turn permits the size of the individual control panel for each gun to be greatly reduced reducing the overall size of the coating system controller. This single master control panel is ideally located at a convenient and comfortable position for the operator to monitor and operate the control panel, preferably at approximately eye level. In addition, by reducing the functions of the individual gun control panels, it is also possible to provide a more limited gun operation display for each gun in a relatively small cluster of such displays. This permits the guns to be conveniently viewed as a group, without a lot of clutter between the various displays. In this way, the individual gun displays can be conveniently viewed as a group to spot any guns that are not performing properly.
Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, an operator control panel for controlling the operation of one or more electrostatic spray guns is provided. The panel includes, for example, a gun control area for selecting one or more of the electrostatic spray guns to be active, an electrostatic control area for displaying and controlling the operational parameters of the one or more selected electrostatic spray guns, a manual trigger area for allowing the manual triggering of the one or more selected electrostatic spray guns, and a system functions area for controlling the pneumatic operation of the one or more selected electrostatic spray guns.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a system for controlling one or more electrostatic spray guns is also provided. The system includes, for example, an input/output port for placing the one or more electrostatic spray guns in electric circuit communication with the system, a central processing unit in electric circuit communication with the input/output port and for executing commands associated with the control of the one or more electrostatic spray guns, and an operator control panel in electric circuit communication with the central processing unit. The operator control panel preferably includes, for example, a gun control area for selecting one or more of the electrostatic spray guns to be active; an electrostatic control area for displaying and controlling the operational parameters of the one or more selected electrostatic spray guns, a manual trigger area for allowing the manual triggering of the one or more selected electrostatic spray guns, and a system functions area for controlling the pneumatic operation of the one or more selected electrostatic spray guns.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of mapping a physical arrangement of electrostatic spray guns onto a gun control area of an operator control panel is provided. The method includes, for example, the steps of: detecting whether an electrostatic spray gun is connected to an input/output card associated with the operator control panel; and if an electrostatic spray gun is detected, assigning to the gun a gun control from the gun control area. In this manner, for operator convenience, the gun controls of the gun control area can mirror the physical configuration of the electrostatic spray guns in the coating booth.
It is, therefore, an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and method that allows for the convenient observation of multiple electrostatic spray gun parameters from a single location.
It is a further advantage of this invention to provide a system and method that permits the operator to conveniently control multiple electrostatic spray guns from a single location.
It is a further advantage of this invention to minimize the size of the individual controller units required to control multiple guns in an electrostatic spray booth by providing a single, or master, operator control panel for preferably controlling and monitoring all the electrostatic parameters of the guns.